Coping with Autism and Puberty

Puberty is a challenge for everyone, but especially for those who are developmentally disabled, such as autistic individuals.

As a parent, you need to prepare yourself and your child for this event.

Talking about sexuality with an autistic child needs to be straight forward.

Autistic individuals do not pick up on social cues, therefore when talking about sexuality it is important to use concrete terms.

Use real terms to describe what you are talking about.

Expect that your child will be a sexual being, and understand that with a diagnosis of autism often comes an inability to control impulse behaviors.

It is important to be proactive when preparing yourself and your child for puberty.

Teach them it is okay to be a sexual being, but this is also a private time.

Teach them about good touch/bad touch so that they are not vulnerable.

Let them know that you are comfortable (and work at it if you are not) with this type of conversation so that they can be comfortable too.

It is often difficult to accept this reality in our children, especially when they have a developmental disability.

It is difficult to accept the reality of the expression of sexual needs in people with autism.

They need to understand their right to express their sexuality through masturbation, but also need to understand the important of privacy.

They also need to understand that sexuality, while a social behavior, is constrained by social rules.

They need skills to enable them to behave acceptably in open society.

It is important to visit some sites and see which one/s you feel comfortable with. This is just one of the many tricks, tips and techniques that you can use to cope with your Autistic child’s behaviors that feature in my new book “The Parenting Autism Resource Guide”.



The Parenting Autism Resource Guide:

A Complete Resource Guide For Parents
Who Have Children Diagnosed With Autism.